Planning a trip to Uzbekistan

Visas and entry

Citizens of around 90 countries — including the EU, the UK, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Israel and Turkey — enter Uzbekistan visa-free for 30 days. Most other nationalities, including the USA and Canada, apply for an e-visa online at e-visa.gov.uz; it is issued in a few working days and costs about USD 20.

Your passport should be valid for at least three months beyond the date of entry. There is no compulsory vaccination requirement.

Rules change from time to time. Before you book flights, check the current status for your passport, or send us your nationality on WhatsApp and we will confirm it.

Registration

Foreign visitors must be registered at their place of stay. If you sleep in hotels and guesthouses, they do it automatically and give you a small slip for each night — keep them until you leave the country. On our tours every night is in registered accommodation, so this is handled for you.

When to come

April to early June and September to early November are the two best windows: warm days, cool evenings, everything open.

July and August are hot — 38–42 °C in Bukhara and Khorezm. Travel is still possible with early starts, long lunch breaks and air-conditioned cars; this is also the season for the Zomin mountains.

December to February is cold but clear, with far fewer visitors and the lowest hotel prices. Snow on the Registan is worth seeing.

Money and payments

The currency is the Uzbek sum (UZS). Cards (Visa, Mastercard) work in city hotels, restaurants and larger shops, but bazaars, taxis and small guesthouses are cash-only.

Bring US dollars or euros in clean, undamaged notes and change them at a bank or an official exchange desk. ATMs in Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara dispense both sum and dollars.

Tips are not compulsory. For a good guide or driver, 5–10% of the service price is normal.

Safety and health

Uzbekistan is one of the safest countries in the region; street crime is rare and cities are comfortable to walk at night. Normal precautions are enough.

Drink bottled water. Food in restaurants we use is safe; be careful with unwashed fruit from bazaars. Pharmacies are widely available in every city.

We recommend travel insurance that covers medical treatment — it is not included in our tour prices.

What to bring

Comfortable walking shoes — the old towns are paved with stone and you will walk 8–12 km a day. Sun hat, sunglasses and high-factor sunscreen from April to October.

For mosques and mausoleums, shoulders and knees covered; women may be asked for a headscarf in a few working mosques, so a light scarf is useful.

A power adapter for European type C/F sockets, 220 V.

Language and connectivity

Uzbek and Russian are spoken everywhere; English is common among younger people in tourist cities. All our guides speak English.

A local SIM card with data costs a few dollars and is sold at the airport with your passport. Wi-Fi is standard in hotels.